Technical director Nick Chester said the team have “further improvements on engine mapping which should give us another step forward” at the Circuit de Catalunya. This is one of several updates planned for the car.

“We’ve got a new cooling and bodywork package coming – quite a big upgrade – plus some updates to the rear wing and various other bodywork part,” Chester added.

“All of the developments that we’ve brought for the car so far have been an improvement, which is highly satisfying and validates the hard work being done back at the factory.

“We also received more horsepower from Renault Sport F1 in China and I hope we’ll get a further step-up in Barcelona, which will make a massive difference.”

The China upgrade made the car “a lot more driveable due to a much better torque delivery, which helped the drivers make a big step,” Chester said.

Much of the potential gains they have identified where in areas where the car’s handling could be improved, he added. “There are a lot of aero improvements we want to bring to make the car more predictable for the drivers.”

25 comments on Comprehensive upgrade for Lotus in Spain

If Lotus have received a tweaked engine during the pre-euro break, RB surely have too. Maybe the gap to Mercedes won’t be so distant for RB anymore. After all it’s the straights where RB were losing most of their time

I read somewhere that RB had worked with Renault and had improved the power from their engine in Bahrain, the other Renault teams had to wait till China for their PU power updates.
Seems unfair to me that RB got the update earlier (even if they worked with Renault to get it) as all Renault teams are paying for the same engine?

That’s very true! I read the article in Auto Motor und Sport where the information was presented about Lotus being short of power to RB and Toro Rosso about 30hp. They are not treated the same as the Bulls. That’s not in harmony with the rules but that’s the way it is.
I’am just worried about their suspension geometry on E22. I assume that E22’s center of gravity is lower than E21’s ( due to heavier battery pack ). However, I didn’t see they followed it with suspension geometry as RB’s or Merc. Contemporary tires are more resistant to latteral forces due to stronger carcass. It emphasizes the issue of tire temp even more. If they stick to the current suspension geometry they’ll struggle with bringing the tires to the working temp or holding them in the working temp window. Maldonado’s crash in China was just an unpredictable car sliding off. In my opinion it wasn’t just Pastor’s fault. It was obvious that tires didn’t work properly…
It’s so good to have that guy in the team. No matter whose fault it is just blame Maldonado. You can hardly be wrong, or on second thought…

The point is, they all buy the Renault PU. they should all have the most upto date PU at all times. Before lotus where lotus, they where the Renault works team, I understand the shift of the works team to RB (especially wth the Infiniti sponsorship) but the point is, RB have an unfair advantage over the other Renault Teams.
Everyone saying works team are essentially saying we are watching a sham, & F1 2014 is really a 3 works team formula with an additional 8 teams as filler.
I hope at least Merc as a brand are honourable enough not to supply inferior engines to their customers.

I’m really curious as to see how well Red Bull perform relative to Mercedes. Vettel wasn’t too distant from Rosberg in Malaysia, and it is a track with two very long straights and a smaller one – Spain only has one long straight and one shorter.

Maybe we could see a Mercedes displaced from the top two spots? It’s still obviously far-fetched such is the pace advantage of the W05, but much more possible than it has been previously.

the advantage is all in the power unit, nothing else. in Spain, Mercedes will probably have a .5 second advantage on front straight and .2 on back straight. when we see redbull less then .7 of a second off pole, we will know who has the better car, I predict redbull will get to withing .3 of a second of Mercedes in Spain, as it is a downforce track, and redbull will show they have the better car. unfortunantly having the best car is not enough in this new modern f1, it is about having the best car powered by Mercedes….

Though I did point out on that note that precisely because Red Bull have a less powerful engine, they have less to lose from increasing wing angles and consequently drag. I’m not sure that I have interpreted my physics correctly but I believe it would have a more prominent effect if the car was faster in a straight line, so they can afford to be slightly sacrificial in the pursuit of pace elsewhere around the lap.

@spoutnik Räikkönen of course had one which seemed to be a massive impedance to him. I’m not expecting it to have been that much of a detriment in Vettel’s case, but hopefully it’s a definite improvement from China!

@vettel1 I didn’t say it was going to be a good shock as Fry optimism before China and recent comments about aggressive updates feed my imagination but jokes apart I would hope to have a 3 way battle as soon as next GP, having Vettel would be good but 3 is better.

@vettel1 I would expect the Mercs to get past early on due to superior early race pace and straightline speed, and the Red Bulls probably to fall back then stabilise the gap towards the end. A lot depends on tyre wear too though.